“What’s going on down there?” One of the Wyrms drops its head through the bars.
“I dunno, he must have seen a rabbit or something,” I lie, but I feel the Wyrm’s disbelieving eyes bore into me.
Before it can probe further, however, one of the shapes flies overhead, and a fireball strikes one of the Wyrms on the side of the head. I now recognise the shape. Drea.
The white dragon loops back around and shoots another fireball in front of the truck, making it screech to a halt.
“No!” Ray screams, dangling out the window like a madman. “Do not let them free her!”
Another dragon soars overhead, one I don’t recognise. It plucks one of the Wyrms off a car and launches it into the air. The grey body screams until it hits the hood with a sickening thud, setting off the ear-splitting screech of the car alarm. Winter comes out of nowhere to tackle the dragon out of the sky, who wrestles with her mid-air.
“They’re trying to save us,” I whisper. “We have to get out.”
“Not so fast.” The Wyrms from above drop into the cage, blocking Aqueous and me from the door. “You will stay right where we can see you.”
I grit my teeth and try to conjure the shark, the elemental beast that I can create because of my markings. But it’s no good; I’m not in the right frame of mind to create it. Aqueous lashes his tail and steps in front of me slightly, hissing and raising his bad foot in the air.
“How sweet,” the other Wyrm cackles. “The vermin wants to fight us.”
The truck shakes as a dragon lands on top, sticking its thin purple legs through the bars to swipe at the Wyrms. Both duck and hiss at the dragon, trying to bite its claws with each swipe. Seeing his chance, Aqueous surges forward and pins one Wyrm to the bars, allowing an orange and green dragon on the other side to grab its tail and pull until it falls still. The remaining Wyrm hisses in fury and escapes through the bars, joining the battle where there are more Wyrms. A familiar red and blue dragon approaches the bars with his signature look, tongue lolling out of his mouth.
“Bluey!” I grab the bars as the blue-footed dragon rubs his head against my hands. “Am I glad to see you!”
Bluey grabs the bars and tries to pull, but the metal barely bends. Aqueous pushes from his end and they manage to break one bar off, but the gap is not big enough for Aqueous to squeeze through. Just as they move onto the next bar, Ray’s cronies close in, hurling their elements at Bluey. The blue-footed dragon leaps into the air and does a backflip, the two dragons beside him forming an arrow shape in the sky. After one lap around the battlefield they descend on the group, firing their elements at them. Most of the cronies duck or dash under the cars, but a few get struck and fall to the ground, unconscious.
“Great job!” I applaud Bluey, and he bows his head as if he’s just won an award.
While the dragons work on the bars, I check the other side, which has now turned into a bloody battlefield. Wyrms and dragons are locked in fights left and right, and the grass is stained crimson with blood. Various Cindaraans run around amid the chaos, assisting the Wyrms where they can. My heart sinks.
We’re vastly outnumbered.
Dying dragons line the ground, their wounds gushing with blood. Some disappear under a number of Wyrms, which are then attacked by the remaining dragons. This doesn’t look like a fair fight.
Aqueous yaps behind me as the last bar breaks loose, allowing him to crawl out. I follow him, Bluey nosing me down the rest of the drop. The two other dragons with him bow their heads and launch into the air, ready to help from above.
“I’m guessing you know where we’re going?” I ask Bluey, who nods in reply.
He bends down to let me on his back when Winter lands in front of us, digging her claws into the dirt. Her wings are covered in bite marks, and her teeth are stained red with blood, which drips down her mouth as a pink foam. Aqueous’ ears droop, and he whines sadly to the blue dragon, who just roars in reply. I guess she isn’t in the mood for talking.
Winter rams into my companion, her claws tearing through his scales. Bluey quickly jumps in and yanks her by the tail. Now certain that Winter won’t listen, Aqueous hesitantly pins one wing down as she turns to attack the blue-footed dragon. While this is going on, someone grabs me from behind, placing a hand over my mouth. Instinctively, water shoots out of my hands, trying to knock my attacker off their feet.
“God dammit, every time!” a familiar voice groans.
“Marco!” I mumble through his hand, sinking my head into his chest to look up at him.
“Shh, we’ve got to sneak you out of here.”
I look around at the mass of fighting around me. “This doesn’t look very sneaky.”
“You try to be sneaky with an army of dragons,” he retorts. “You’re coming back to the city.”
“Thank God,” I step back as Aqueous and Winter roll past, locked in a battle. “I don’t want to go back to Aria.”
“Well, unfortunately, you are.” Ray steps out from behind the truck, his hands balled into fists.
“I don’t want to go back!” I hiss.
“It is what is best for you.”
“It is not,” Marco snorts, wrapping his arms around my waist. “You want to make her Wyrm food!”
Regret crosses the blond boy’s face. “It has to be done.”
“Fuck you,” Marco snarls, embers flying out of his mouth.
Ray’s face hardens and he raises an arm, creating a rocky fist wrapped together in vines. Just as he’s about to step forward, his fist is grabbed in the air and he is plucked off the ground. With a scream of fury, he tries to hit his attacker, but to avail. It simply tosses him onto the hood of a car. The alarm goes off for a few seconds before getting cut off abruptly as another dragon is thrown into its side. The attacker turns out to be a Wyvern, which flares out its long wings and screeches into the sky. More Wyverns descend on the battle, swooping down to attack the Wyrms.
Now the fight is fairer.
“Come on,” Marco whispers in my ear as a Wyvern lands on Winter’s back, tearing into her hide like a piece of meat while she screams in agony. “We have to get out of here before anyone else notices you’re missing.”
“But why are the Wyverns helping?”
“I don’t know, we can discuss it later. Come on.”
16
Chapter Sixteen
As soon as we approach the edge of the city, we see Isaac. A gorgeous marble grey dragon with white splotches stands at his side, its blue eyes piercing into Aqueous and Bluey as they limp after us. I only hope that Aqueous’ wound doesn’t get any worse; the city isn’t an option now.
“Hazel, good to see you again,” Isaac smiles warmly.
“Likewise. I wasn’t expecting all that, though.”
“Marco and Braith assured me it would be worth it to get you back. They’ve told me everything.”
“Oh.” I give Marco a worried look, but he returns it with a smile.
“Don’t worry, I won’t treat you like Ray has,” Isaac smiles. “This way. The Aislados camp is through a restaurant around the corner.”
As we approach the restaurant, a quaint little place with white seats and red banners scattered over the front, a woman with spiky green hair steps out to let us in. The interior is beautiful, with paintings of sunsets and forests dotting the walls. In each painting is a black dragon with a white foot, twirling and dancing in every picture.
“Thanks, Jazz.”
“No prob; I don’t think anyone saw.”
Jazz looks as if she’s in her late twenties, with pale skin and chunky gold jewellery. She smiles at us, her lips smothered with a deep purple lipstick. “Hi, you must be Hazel. Trying to save the world, huh?”
“No, nothing like that,” I chuckle.
“That’s not what Braith’s been saying,” she crosses her arms in amusement.
“This is Jazz,” Isaac says, removing his jacket and draping it over a barstool. “She houses and employs most of the Ais
lados now. Our old home got raided shortly after you left.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t be; it’s much better here.”
“You bet,” Jazz chimes in. “That old place was a hellhole.”
“This way.”
Isaac leads us around the back of the counter, through a door marked ‘fire exit’. It leads to a staircase, which goes up for at least five floors. This place must be a refurbished block of flats.
“This is a lot better,” I muse, staring at yet more pictures of the black dragon on the wall. “Oh, what about-”
“Aqueous and the others stay out back,” Marco interrupts me, knowing what I’m going to ask. “They have a campfire and everything. They get more luxury than us!” he jokes.
Isaac points to the top floor. “You’re room twenty-six.” He throws Marco a key. “Braith said she didn’t mind sharing with you.”
Marco rolls his eyes. “I bet she didn’t.”
“Get some rest and something to eat. I’ll meet you in the meeting room at twelve.” Isaac nods to us both before disappearing back into the restaurant, plucking a black apron off a hanger.
“Come on, you look like you need something decent to eat,” Marco says, guiding me up the stairs.
“What’s on the menu?”
“We’re in an Italian restaurant,” his eyes shine. “Whatever you feel like eating.”
“Do we have to work?”
“Just preparing food and washing dishes,” he shrugs nonchalantly. “Better than selling jewellery.”
I don’t answer, and his eyes glaze over. He still hasn’t gotten over what Javier tried to do with me.
“I thought I heard chatterin’!” Braith leans over the rail as I jog up the rest of the steps.
She jumps into my arms, squeezing me into a tight hug.
“Enough, I can’t breathe…”
“Sorry, just felt like ya needed one,” she bounces as Marco reaches the top of the stairs. “How’d the fight go?”
“Bit iffy at first, but we got some…unexpected help.”
“From who?”
I answer before he can. “Wyverns.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Why would they help us?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Hmm.” She taps her lip with her finger. “Maybe Olwen wrote about it…”
“Oh, I forgot about the laptop! Learn anything good?”
“Still trawling through,” she sighs. “Most of it is gobbledegook to me. Luckily Marco knows some of the more science-y stuff.”
Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, he replies: “Only some of it.”
“Let’s get somethin’ to eat and talk about everything!” Braith grabs my hand and drags me back down the stairs, leaving Marco to trail behind us like a puppy.
Braith throws open a set of doors next to the fire door, making everyone in the room jump before noticing it’s her.
“You need to stop doing that,” Jazz sighs. “I might drop something.”
“Eh, I’d still eat it,” Braith waves her hand.
The green-haired woman rolls her eyes. “Oh, how could I forget, saving the world means you’ll eat food off anything, right?”
“Braith, stop telling people we’re saving the world,” I hiss in her ear.
She shrugs in reply. “We kinda are, in a way.”
“We have no idea what we’re doing.”
“No-one ever does when they’re trying to save the world.” She perches on one of the wooden tabletops, taking a deep breath. “Whatcha cookin’?”
“Pancakes and toast,” Jazz replies, flipping a pancake in the air. “You can take some; most people have already eaten.”
Isaac comes out of nowhere and passes me a plate with three plain pancakes and a slice of toast. I thank him with a smile, not used to such hospitality.
“No sauces?” Braith says disappointedly.
“Choose your own.” Isaac steps aside to reveal a cupboard full of syrups and sauces.
Braith squeals in delight and dashes over to the cupboard, while I start eating the pancakes with my hands. I don’t want to waste the cutlery for customers. Several people in black aprons file into the kitchen, taking positions at various stations. I recognise Annalise chopping vegetables, but she doesn’t look at me.
“Let’s get out of their hair,” I suggest to Marco, who munches in agreement.
As we step outside into the cool hallway, I gobble down another mouthful of toast. Anything other than beans and canned peaches tastes like heaven.
“Feel better now?” Marco mumbles, grinning as I stuff the toast remnants in my mouth.
“Mm-hm.”
His face falls but he waits for me to finish chewing before sighing. “You shouldn’t have turned yourself in.”
“I had no choice. I had to save Aqueous.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I sigh and drop the half-eaten pancake on the plate. “Because I know you would have come with me.”
“So?”
“Both of us didn’t need to get caught. The police would have eaten me alive for showing up with you; they treat commoners like shit in the city. Just like in camp. Imagine if I suddenly showed up with a missing premier.”
“We would have got through it. We always do.” He stares down at his plate, scuffing his feet.
“Some things I need to do on my own. We would have reunited at some point if it weren’t for Isaac. I know if Ray had taken me back to camp then you would have broken in to get me out.”
He chuckles. “You bet; I’m your knight in shining armour, after all.” He’s silent for a few seconds before he speaks again. “On the broadcast, what did you say to Ray?”
“I told him he was a twat.”
We both laugh and continue our meals, pressed against each other’s side like sardines in a tin.
* * *
I tap the table impatiently as we wait for one of Olwen’s articles to load on the screen. Slowly, the article loads up, stacked with pictures of Wyrms. Isaac scans the page, scrunching his eyebrows.
“And those are the things that have been hunting you?”
“Yep,” Braith rubs a rubber ball between her hands. “They want to eat us to evolve.”
“But that’s not how evolution works.”
“The scientists created a serum that sped it up,” she explains, pointing to a paragraph on the screen. “But it needed carriers for the genes.”
“So that’s where you all come in.”
“Not me,” Marco smirks. “Though they’d probably have me as a side dish.”
“So how many of you have been injected with the serum?”
“Braith and I, and there are seven more back at Aria,” I explain, nodding as Braith brings up our files on the screen. “We’re the only ones who escaped.”
“The others had their own reasons for staying,” Braith adds, giving me an apologetic smile.
“So, if we broke them out, would they come with us?” Isaac asks, clicking through each file.
“Some would, some wouldn’t,” Marco muses. “One is on Ray’s side, so good luck trying to get him to escape.”
“But why? If Ray is going to feed him to the Wyrms?”
“Wes idolises him,” I explain, surprised to feel a pang of regret about how I left things with my former friend. “Ray has taught him everything, and in return Wes has pledged his loyalty.”
“But again,” Isaac rubs his face. “Ray is planning on turning you all over to the Wyrms.”
“Maybe Ray has promised Wes immunity,” I suggest with a shrug.
“The Wyrms won’t have that, though; he’s a carrier. He has genes they need to evolve.”
“Maybe Wes is so brainwashed he thinks he’ll be spared,” Marco sighs. “He always did take Ray’s word for everything.”
Isaac taps the laptop. “This is frustrating.” He sighs, sinking into a seat.
“Welcome to o
ur world!” Braith announces, taking a seat next to him to look at the files.
“You don’t have to help us,” I say. “We’re putting everyone in danger by being here.”
“We Aislados look out for each other,” Isaac furrows his brow. “You’re one of us now. Besides, we’re always in danger anyway. The government could crack its whip on us at any moment.”
“With Ray in charge that might just happen.”
The blond man shrugs. “Then we’ll find somewhere else. That’s what we always do. And we will continue to protect any escapees.” He leans back in his chair and places both hands behind his head as Braith whizzes through the articles.
“I’m looking for anything about the Wyverns,” she explains upon realising that everyone is staring at her. “It might tell us why they helped us.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. They wanted us gone before, but then they start helping out?” My boyfriend shakes his head in confusion. “It’s crazy.”
The sights of the battlefield burn into my brain. The Wyverns swooping in makes no sense. Why would they help the people who stole their eggs? I can see why they helped our companions, but one saved Marco and me from Ray. It must have had a reason. Ray’s body draped over that car hood makes me cringe. His arms were mangled and broken, bones sticking out at unnatural angles.
“There’s not much on the Wyverns,” Braith sighs, rubbing her eyes. “Most of it is on the Wyrms and Draca, with a few articles about the other dragons they kept there.”
“Well, keep at it. You’ve all done well to get here.”
It’s nice to get praise for once. This is the kind of motivation we need, not Ray’s version. I’m glad I didn’t go back to camp; I don’t want to put up with that all day again. Although I can’t help but feel sorry for Ray. He’s got this idea of a perfect Cindaraan world so locked in his head he can’t see what’s really going on. No-one really knows who the Cindaraans are; it was all fake, to keep us occupied but also interested in politics. It’s gone too far. Ray is in too deep now to let it go, but the world he wants to create can’t exist. Dragons aren’t meant to work long hours like we are; they don’t have our stamina. How can Ray expect that of his companion anyway? She’s there to help and grow with him, not be his slave.
Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3) Page 10